Word family noun dead death deadliness adjective dead deadly deathly verb deaden adverb deadly deathly
From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishdeaddead1 /ded/ ●●● S1 W1 adjective [no comparative] 1 not aliveDEAD no longer alive Her mother had been dead for ten years. Police are trying to contact the family of the dead man. a pile of dead leaves the dead body of a young soldier Two men were shot dead by terrorists. Magnus was found dead in his car. One man is still missing, presumed dead. He suddenly had a heart attack and dropped dead. She was pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital. His fellow climbers had left him for dead on the mountain. We didn’t know if she was dead or alive. When they found him he was more dead than alive. Her parents were long dead. ► Do not confuse dead, which is an adjective, with died, which is the past tense and past participle of the verb die: The man was already dead (NOT The man was already died).2 not working [not before noun]TCT not working because there is no power I picked up the phone but discovered the line was dead. Suddenly the radio went dead. I think the batteries are dead.3 already used already used a small pile of dead matchesdead glass/bottle (=one that someone has finished drinking from in a bar or restaurant)4 boring [not before noun]BORING a place that is dead is boring because there is nothing interesting or exciting happening there This place is dead after nine o'clock.5 not active/used not active or being used The luxury car market has been dead in recent months. 6 arm/leg etcFEEL HOT/COLD/TIRED ETC a part of your body that is dead has no feeling in it, especially because the blood supply to it has been stopped When I got up my foot had gone dead where I’d been sitting on it.7 no emotion [not before noun]FEEL HAPPY/FRIGHTENED/BORED ETC showing no emotion or sympathy Jennie’s eyes were cold and dead.8 tired [not before noun] spokenTIRED very tired I can’t go out tonight. I’m absolutely dead! She was dead on her feet and didn’t have the energy to argue (=used when someone keeps going even though they are very tired).► see thesaurus at tired9 → be dead to the world10 used for emphasis [only before noun] completely or exactly – used to emphasize what you are saying We all sat waiting in dead silence (=complete silence). The train came to a dead stop (=it stopped completely). The arrow hit the dead centre of the target (=the exact centre). I’ve given the whole thing up as a dead loss (=completely useless or a complete failure). John tells me it’s a dead cert, we can’t lose (=something which will certainly happen, win, succeed etc). He fell to the floor in a dead faint (=completely unconscious).11 → over my dead body12 → I wouldn’t be seen/caught dead13 in serious troubleSERIOUS SITUATION informal in serious troubleif ... I’m dead/you’re dead etc If Mum finds out about this, I’m dead. You’re in dead trouble now (=in very serious trouble)! One word of this to Sam and you’re dead meat (=you are in serious trouble and someone is very angry with you)! 14 → be dead and buried15 → be dead in the water16 → drop dead!17 → dead language18 → the dead hand of something19 planetHA a dead planet has no life on it20 in sportDS when the ball is dead in some games, it is no longer on the playing area → (as) dead as a dodo at dodo(3), → dead ringer —deadness noun [uncountable]COLLOCATIONSverbslie deadIf I’m late, Mum worries that I’m lying dead somewhere.drop dead (=die suddenly)He dropped dead at the age of 52.find somebody deadA man was found dead in the apartment.shoot somebody deadHe was jailed for life for shooting dead a burglar.leave somebody dead (=result in someone dying – used especially in news reports)The shooting left at least 28 people dead.leave somebody for dead (=leave someone to die)The men beat him and ran away, leaving him for dead.pronounce somebody dead (=to say officially that someone is dead)She was pronounced dead at the scene of the accident.be feared dead (=used when someone is missing and people are worried that they are dead)Hundreds of people are feared dead in a ferry disaster.be presumed dead (=used when someone is missing and people think they are certainly dead)The two boys have not been seen since they fell into the river, and are now presumed dead.adverbsclinically dead (=dead based on medical checks)A person is declared clinically dead when the brain stops working.nounsa dead bodyA dead body has been found in the woods.phraseslong dead (=dead for a long time)All those people I knew then are long dead now.dead and gone informal (=completely dead)Let’s face it, we’ll all be dead and gone soon.more dead than alive (=very badly hurt or ill and almost dead)He was swept up onto a beach after three days at sea, more dead than alive. THESAURUSdead no longer alivethe bodies of three dead soldiersIs her father dead?lifeless literary dead or seeming to be deadtheir lifeless bodieslate [only before noun] formal dead – use this as a polite way of talking about someone who has died, especially recentlyMrs Lombard’s late husbanda gold Cartier bracelet that once belonged to the late American artist Andy Warhol deceased formal deadHer parents, now deceased, disapproved of her marriage.her deceased husbandThey were friends of the deceased (=the person who died).departed [only before noun] dead – used in order to be polite and avoid saying the word ‘dead’They paid their respects to their departed uncle.his dear departed wifegone [not before noun] informal dead – used especially when someone was alive not long before‘Is she gone?’ ‘I’m afraid so.’ Examples from the Corpus
dead• She's no longer breathing - I think she's dead.• She asked, then, if this meant her book was dead.• In summer we get a few visitors, but most of the time this place is dead.• Is the battery dead?• Following the shoot-out six people were dead and three were wounded.• They shot it dead and took the corpse to a government building in Edmonton.• For Dorian, this was more terrible than the dead body in the room.• Following her hanging, a horse and cart set out from the Grassmarket carrying what was presumed to be her dead body.• So I got that net out of there myself and found a lot of dead fish, but at least no mammals.• Her mother has been dead for ten years.• Then there was the business of the dead girl, Melanie something.• It's absolutely dead here when all the students go away for the summer vacation.• It was autumn, and the path was covered in dead leaves.• The dead man's wife was questioned by police.• a dead moon of Jupiter• One of the gunshot victims was pronounced dead on arrival at City Hospital.• the Dead Sea• These flowers look dead - shall I throw them away?• a dead tree• It had been going on since 1963 and was continued despite the fact that dead trees proved to be very effective cover.• The bar is usually dead until around 10:00.• The doctor told him that unless he stopped drinking he would be dead within a year.dead body• Following her hanging, a horse and cart set out from the Grassmarket carrying what was presumed to be her dead body.• My goodness no - over your dead body.• One time Wojnarowicz was making a movie that called for dead bodies.• Christopher's dead body is in the next room.• Over my dead body, thought the rector, who loved the diminutive stone building that the parish had erected in 1879.• In a medical autopsy, doctors dismember a dead body to investigate its parts.• My sister's dead body was carried slowly out of the house and through the village, followed by all of us.• Her dead body wears the smile of accomplishment.line ... dead• Authorities were talking to him by telephone shortly before noon on Friday when they heard a gunshot and the line went dead.• But the line had gone dead.• She was waiting for him to admit as much when the line went dead.• The dead had become offensive and the living were suffering fearful agonies.• The voice then repeated the message, and afterwards the line went dead.• There was silence and then a click and the line went dead.• He lined up the dead centre of the target and scored with a long, spiralling burst.• Then he clicked the line dead with his finger and dialled the president's bedside number. dead matches• The visitors regained some pride when the Mazunov brothers won the two dead matches.gone dead• I'd been sitting on my heels for so long my legs had gone dead.• But the line had gone dead.• He had long since gone dead on politicians.dead on ... feet• They are dead on their feet.• She revealed that she was dead on her feet in the last 100m and feared she had blown it. dead silence• But the question was met by dead silence.• Then there was a dead silence.• There was only the sound of their own firing, then a dead silence.• A dead silence greeted this unusual flow of words from Mr van der Luyden.• In dead silence Harley surveyed his putt and Jefferson took up his usual position beside the pin.• The dead silence made contact impossible.• The dead silence was broken only by a regular drip, drip, drip.dead meat• If anything happens to the car, you're dead!• Hardly surprising really considering it feels not dissimilar from a hunk of exceedingly dead meat!• Look after yourself, and particularly your voice and your memory, for without these you are dead meat.• One word to the Wee Green P, old son, and you're dead meat.• They also facilitated the movement of perishable dead meat quite long distances.deaddead2 adverb informal 1 COMPLETELYcompletelydead right/wrong ‘It’s a crazy idea.’ ‘You’re dead right!’dead straight/flat The road was dead straight.dead quiet/calm/still Everything suddenly went dead still.be dead (set) against something (=completely disagree with something) Her family were dead against the marriage. He was obviously dead drunk. When he saw her, he stopped dead in his tracks (=suddenly stopped moving completely).2 VERYvery He was dead good-looking. It sounded dead boring.dead beat/tired (=very tired)3 [+adj/adverb]EXACT directly or exactly I stared dead ahead at the doorway. The bus arrived dead on time.COLLOCATIONSadjectivesdead right/wrongYou’re dead wrong, so let me handle this.dead straight/flatThe countryside around here is dead flat all the way to the sea.dead quiet/calm/stillThe room was dead quiet while we waited for Ted to reply.dead drunkHe came home dead drunk in the middle of the night.phrasesbe dead (set) against something (=completely disapprove of or disagree with something)I’d like to be an actress but Mum and Dad are dead set against it.be dead set on something (=be determined to do something)At the moment, Steve’s just dead set on winning the gold medal.stop dead (in your tracks) (=suddenly stop moving completely)She was so shocked that she stopped dead in her tracks. Examples from the Corpus
dead• It stopped me dead in my tracks.• It was as big as a settee but it was dead quiet.• Stef, Hugo pointed out, was dead set against junk food.• The women in prison who had kids were always dead upset.dead right/wrong• And you're always dead wrong.• Cold chills ran down my right leg, which is the surest way I have of knowing when something is dead right.• Declared not only dead, but dead wrong?• No, you're dead right.• Statements like these are dead wrong.• The only risk Dole takes, of course, is that he could be dead wrong.• Mum was dead right apparently, the house on Bradshaw Drive was full of treasures.• But he was dead wrong in predicting that such harmonious relations would ever be.dead beat/tired• Nor was there ever a moment when he was not dead tired.• She was often dead tired and must have fallen asleep many times at her task.• He admitted he was dead tired and therefore must return home.• She was dead tired, but she couldn't fall asleep.dead ahead• You can't miss it - it's dead ahead.• But as the haze cleared, Anson sighted land right away, dead ahead.• He let go the clutch, lifted the front wheel and drove at the far bank, sand-spit dead ahead.• The crew now wanted to abandon ship, and a few minutes later red flares were seen dead ahead.• The forked road which every star, perhaps every person, faces at least once in a lifetime lay dead ahead.• You know, but uh, he was like, Burton Woods, dead ahead.• But it was there all right, dead ahead - a bar, knife-sharp and deadly.• They were Spitfires, dead ahead and so close it was impossible, coming directly at him.• His father was facing dead ahead, as if still in open water out of sight of land.deaddead3 noun 1 → the dead2 → the dead of night/winter3 → rise/come back/return from the deadExamples from the Corpus
dead• Makes the rotten dead sit right up.• Among the dead were two of the train drivers.• My house feels solid and safe and orderly; hyacinths and narcissus bloom indoors here even in the dead of winter.• A light came wobbling up the Banbury Road, Oxford, in the dead of night.• It was to keep the dead where they belong, in their grave.• Men on board pulled the wounded and the mangled bodies of the dead from beneath collapsed debris.• The dead were covered by low mounds encircled with stones.From Longman Business Dictionarydeaddead /ded/ adjective1if the economy or an industry is dead, it is not growing or successfulThe plan is to lower interest rates in order to breathe life back into the dead economy.The domestic gold industry is dead.2no longer important, being used, or popularTakeover investing isn’t dead, despite all the new state anti-takeover laws.Origin dead1 Old English 